Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

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Commission backing for ECB bond buying

The European Commission has welcomed moves by the European Central Bank (ECB) and others to calm financial markets.

A Commission spokesman, said today that the actions taken by the ECB, the G7 and the G20 groups over the weekend “sends a strong message of confidence to the markets”.

The ECB entered the bond market on Monday buying Italian and Spanish bonds in an attempt to lower yields on Italian and Spanish government debt, which reached euro-era record highs last week. The bank’s governing council decided on Sunday (7 August) to buy up eurozone government bonds to prevent a potential bail-out of the two countries. A conference call between finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 and G20 groups also led to pledges to co-ordinate actions to ensure liquidity and stability of financial markets.

The spokeesman reiterated the Commission’s position that it does not see a need for a bailout for either Italy or Spain. “They announced further measures for fiscal consolidation,” he said. “We trust these measures will be enough to ensure financial stability”.

Despite the ECB moves, markets remained volatile on Monday. Stocks continued their decline from last week amid fears that the eurozone’s debt crisis will spread and concerns over a decision by credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s to downgrade its rating of the United States.